New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Paul Singer, the billionaire manager of Elliot Management, has opened up to his investors about the details surrounding the acquisition of the Argentinian vessel ARA Libertad.

In an investor letter obtained by the NY Post, Singer rationalized their Argentinian bond holdings and their moves to take control of ARA Libertad “We started buying performing Argentine bonds many years ago, because we thought they were cheap relative to Argentina’s vast economic potential,” Paul Singer told his investors, “Since that time, prices have been beaten down by the Argentine government’s protracted process of economic mismanagement, repudiating debts, berating bondholders and litigating with thousands of aggrieved creditors.”

While taking control of the ARA Libertad is a short-term victory, the value is only 1% of the $1.6 billion claim. Singer is rumored to have purchased the bonds for pennies on the dollar leading up to the Argentinian default in 2001.

On the 22nd of October, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez responded in a speech saying, “As long as I’m president, you can take our frigate, but nobody is going to take the liberty, the sovereignty and dignity of this nation,”